{"id":39857,"date":"2013-05-28T17:36:18","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T22:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=39857"},"modified":"2013-05-29T09:38:23","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T14:38:23","slug":"a-meditation-on-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/05\/a-meditation-on-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary\/","title":{"rendered":"A Meditation on the Immaculate Heart of Mary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"painting<\/a>

painting by Russell Marcontell<\/p><\/div>\n

In contemplating the Heart of Mary, we enter into her interior life, symbolized by the beautiful image of her heart. It is often depicted as pierced with a sword, in flames, wreathed with roses or with the crown of thorns of her Son. Mary’s pure and open heart is the reflection of our beautiful Christian life of union with God; a reflection of sacrificial love for Him and all humanity, on fire with the Holy Spirit, flowering with every grace, blessing and virtue.<\/p>\n

\u201cDraw us after you in the fragrance of your holiness.\u201d * \u00a0Following in her heart beats, we are to be directed by the the love of God: wholly pure, wholly given, fully human.\u00a0Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God,\u201d because when we are pure of heart, all we see is God. Her heart is utterly pure beyond our comprehension, pure as Eve’s before the fall; then made even more beautiful by Mary’s heroic merits, her sacrifices, her complete alliance with God, her total love, and her compliance with His will and plan. Oh the willingness of this heart to \u00a0trustingly suffer in order to love Christ bravely, to grow in love and go on loving even to it’s own destruction! She believed all things, she endured all things, she hoped all things! Therefore she received all things.<\/p>\n

How can we imitate Mary by heart? We are so often unlike her inside. \u00a0Sometimes we seem hopelessly off track. Mary’s heart’s simplicity and hidden life in Christ are hard to cultivate, but this is what true holiness is, loving God as she did; in stark faith, hope, and love, in simplicity of heart. \u00a0We walk with Mary in simple faith and learn Christ from her. We listen, we let go and let God, trusting in His grace that He will complete the good work he has begun in us. It all began with our Most Holy Mother saying, “I am the littlest of the servants of God. Let it be done to me as you have said.” \u00a0And Jesus was conceived in her. \u00a0This is what happens in the spiritual life if we allow God to work with us, and Mary to teach us. We become more and more attentive to His Word \u00a0in our lives. We learn to be in silent communion with Him in the quiet of our hearts and we become more and more aware of His indwelling. It takes training ourselves to be quiet and commitment to spend time with God every day in whatever way we are capable of. We can entrust our formation to Mary.<\/p>\n

She is the perfect model of the spiritual life of a Christian. And because she intercedes for us as Queen Mother we can do more than consider her heart and wish we were different. We can become \u00a0closer to what she is by her prayers for us, by grace, by attempting to follow her example, by being willing, by praying. In companionship with Mary and inviting her into our lives, we become more like her . She never keeps anything for herself though. She brings us right to Christ and intensifies our experience of Him. He seems to like to see us in her company, entrusting us to her “school of prayer.” *
\nWith her let us \u201cset out into the deep\u201d* \u00a0as she did in trusting receptivity and self -giving love, in \u00a0prayer of the heart. In this way the Blessed Trinity will come to dwell in us fully and truly. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is an icon of the heart of prayer in its perfection.<\/p>\n

Let us \u00a0allow our hearts to be cleansed by being willing to be shown our mixed \u00a0motivations and inner secrets and to let go of anything that keeps us from God, allowing ourselves to be transformed little by little as we learn to let God in. \u00a0May we be receptive to Love and in being possessed by God, possess God. As Mary allowed the Holy Spirit to overshadow her, may we be open to His movements in our souls with courageous love. \u00a0May our Holy Mother pray for us that we can mirror her heart with our own. May we too be simple , humble and free of heart for Him, that we may run lightly in His paths and wear the gentle yoke of Jesus with a joyful humility.<\/p>\n

We are so busy and so was she. Mary practiced prayer of the heart, I imagine, in the midst of family life: as she swept floors, chased her toddler when he ran out the door as all toddlers must, while she was cooking or working outside in the fields, kneading dough or bringing in water, helping a neighbor or wishing it would rain. Her feet were often dirty and her hands were calloused with work. Maybe sometimes Joseph came in from the shop silent and far away, mentally working on some problem the way husbands will at times, and she had to be patient as every wife does, until he seemed ready to communicate or ready for a hug. She had to have laughed when funny things happened . She was obviously astonished that her Son could seem so inconsiderate as to be at the Temple for three days while she worried so terribly. Sometimes she didn’t understand what was happening. I am certain she had to stay up late or get up early to have any quiet time at all. She was and is fully human, and she understands our life. She will come and sit with us when we are crying. She will smile with us. She will teach us how she did it, how hers became the model for the praying heart amidst life’s work , sorrow and joy.<\/p>\n

Maybe we could start a new phase of our relationship with Mary as one of my fellow contributors suggested I do when I didn’t have any ideas for this article. She said to get my favorite image of Our Lady and have a quiet cup of tea with her and see what happens. \u00a0Well, I did. It was nice. Ideas came to me just fine. \u00a0You might try it.<\/p>\n

\"Dame<\/a>

This rose is called “Dame de Coeur,” or in English, “Queen of Hearts.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Let us pray: O Mary I consecrate my heart to yours that I may love the Father with your heart, listen with your heart, respond to grace with your heart, accept suffering and sacrifice lovingly and freely with your heart. Pray for me, that I may follow the way of prayer and service as you, His most worthy daughter have done before me. \u00a0Be with me and pray that I \u00a0serve with devotion and compassion, that I pray until \u00a0prayer becomes love and love becomes prayer. <\/em><\/p>\n

May my heart be conformed to God’s merciful will in every way. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

May I learn from you, Mary, to live continually in God’s presence, whatever I am doing, “For the language He hears best is silent love.” *<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus, thank you for revealing the Immaculate Heart of Your Mother to the Church that we may grow in simply loving you, \u00a0letting ourselves be loved and opened and inhabited by you as Mary has exemplified.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy well beloved Spouse*” Teach us the heart of prayer.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"IMG_0118\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Mary’s “school of prayer” John Paul II in Rosarium Virginis Mariae<\/em><\/p>\n

*”Draw us after you in the fragrance of your holiness,\u201d is an antiphon from The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<\/em><\/p>\n

*”Set out into the deep!” – John Paul II<\/p>\n

*”The language He hears best…” \u00a0St. John of the Cross<\/p>\n

*This “Come Holy Spirit” is a prayer I learned from a friend years ago. We say it all the time at our house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In contemplating the Heart of Mary, we enter into her interior life, symbolized by the beautiful image of her heart. It is often depicted as pierced with a sword, in flames, wreathed with roses or with the crown of thorns of her Son. Mary’s pure and open heart is the reflection of our beautiful Christian… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[434,74,859,866],"class_list":{"0":"post-39857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faith-blog","7":"tag-mother-of-god","8":"tag-prayer","9":"tag-spirituality","10":"tag-virgin-mary","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":147630,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/chaplet-child-mary\/","url_meta":{"origin":39857,"position":0},"title":"Chaplet of the Child Mary","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"September 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Chaplet of the Child Mary (to be prayed on ordinary rosary beads) written by me in honor of Our Lady's Birthday Make the sign of the cross and pray the Sh'ma, a prayer the little Mary would have grown up reciting every day with her Jewish family and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo Shawn Chapman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/476622_3665381757608_1810148288_o-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/476622_3665381757608_1810148288_o-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/476622_3665381757608_1810148288_o-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121445,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/the-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":39857,"position":1},"title":"The Heart","author":"Rachel","date":"June 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend the wisdom of the Church invited us\u00a0to experience a beautiful truth - the unity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 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Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and You Shall renew the face of the earth. 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So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129104,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/everything-is-connected-the-ecological-spirituality-of-laudato-si\/","url_meta":{"origin":39857,"position":4},"title":"“Everything is Connected” – The Ecological Spirituality of Laudato Si","author":"Rachel","date":"August 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Everything is connected.\" This phrase of Pope Francis could be the link\u00a0that ties the whole of \"Laudato Si\" together and also communicates the core of his message. \"Everything is connected,\" he says, in such a way that as humans and the earth are a part of the same ecological\u00a0fabric, our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Berthold Furtmeyr, The Tree of Death and Life, 1481. 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